Standing almost anonymously along the barriers just past the finish line of the Redlands Bicycle Classic criterium, Roy Knickman looks like any other spectator taking in one of America's longest-running pro races. But the tireless stream of team directors, managers, race officials and others who stop to talk with him, shake his hand or just recall old times, gives away the fact that he's no casual cycling fan.
During a career that spanned over two decades, Knickman raced professionally in the US and Europe as a member of Levi's-Raleigh, La Vie Claire, 7-Eleven, Coors Light and Mercury. He raced alongside legendary teammates Greg LeMond and Bernard Hinault, and he was part of a pioneering era of cyclists who brushed away the novelty of Americans riding in the European peloton and pushed it into the norm.
Knickman earned a bronze medal at the 1984 Olympic Games as part of the US four-man team time trial squad, competed in the Tour de France twice and later worked as a national team coach at USA Cycling. In Europe he won stages at Criterium du Dauphine and the Tour de Suisse. Just don't tell Knickman he was one of the groundbreakers in an important growth spurt for US cycling, because he's not buying it.
ADVERTISEMENT
“No, I really see Jaques Boyer, he was the pioneer,” Knickman told Cyclingnews. “Mike Neel, pioneer – Davis Phinney, Ron Kiefel, Andy Hampsten. Even though I only came a year or two later, those guys are the legends and really deserve the notoriety. Yes, I was in there and kind of joined up with it a few years later and had a few good moments, but for me, it's them. Those are the guys.”
Knickman actually started his European professional career on La Via Claire with Hinault and LeMond in 1986, the season after Hinault's final Tour de France victory and the year of the infamous LeMond-Hinault Tour meltdown.
“So my first European experience as a neo-pro was with Bernard Hinault,” he said. “It was amazing. Hinault was a fierce competitor, but I learned things as a leader. He was a giving leader. I loved LeMond, and I'm friends with LeMond, but they were two different creatures. I learned different things from both them, but they were both positive.”
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://ift.tt/1qKuKa0
No comments:
Post a Comment